I'm Over You - The Stars Above
by PromiseDreamLife
Summary: Samantha Carter is going to marry Pete Shanahan, not necessarily in Season 7 like it is in the show. Martouf/Lantash are still alive, and anyone else that shows up at the wedding. Pete, Martouf/Lantash, Jack, Jacob/Selmak and the rest of the team have to go to the wedding- and try not to kill each other well they're at it. And just when Sam thinks her boy trouble is over- surprise!
1. Chapter 1 - Intro

*denotes Host speaking to symbiote*  
*_denotes symbiote speaking to host_*  
"_denotes symbiote speaking_"

RATING: PG-13, sometimes supposed to be humorous, sometimes sad, surprise ending!

CHARACTERS: Sam, Pete, Martouf/Lantash, Sg-1, Jacob/Selmak, Malek/Host, Rodney Mckay, Janet, George, other SGC personnel, other Tokra

DISCLAIMER: **I don't own anything** you recognize. ...but I wish I did...

For those of you who are lazy or want to get to the good part, just skip ahead to the chapter called "Wedding Day!"

Everything else just makes you feel sad for Sam's exes, sort of.  
_

"Gods Carter, you picked a hell of a day to get married!" The Colonel shouted over the sound of bullets and angry Jaffa.

"Yes sir," Samantha Carter said, ducking to avoid a staff blast.

"Somebody tell ol' Pete, I think we're going to be late. Daniel, dial that thing!" Jack shouted at the archaeologist as he crouched beneath a large rock, one of many that surrounded the Stargate.

"I'm trying," Daniel retorted, pulling his hand away from the dialing device as a Jaffa shot at him.

"I am sorry," Martouf said, hiding behind a boulder with Sam "You should not have come for me,"

"Aw, knock it off Marty," The Colonel snapped "We'll send you the bill."

"From what I understand, you would have been gravely injured had we not come," The stony Jaffa added reassuringly. "I am sure Pete Shanahan will wait for Major Carter."

"Yeah Teal'c," Jack shouted as he shot one of the approaching Jaffa "He can't get married without her!"

Behind them, the gate opened. "Got it!" Daniel called, hastily sending the GDO code.

"Go, go, go!" Jack ordered.

They turned and sprinted toward the gate, Daniel first, holding his hat as he went, followed by Sam supporting the limping Martouf, with Jack and Teal'c in the rear providing cover fire. The successfully passed through the even horizon, the Jaffa feet away even as the Colonel backed up into the SGC.

"Close the iris!" Sam shouted a warning.

"Do it!" General Hammond ordered, nodding to a techie up in the control room. The all watched the Stargate, the sounds of the Jaffa running head long into the iris loud and clear in the gate room. At last, after nearly fifteen loud plunks, the noises stopped and the gate shut down.

"Sg-1, good work," The General said nodding to the injured Tokra. "Welcome to Earth. We debrief at 1800." He turned.

"Sir! What about the-" Carter began

"Yes sir," O'neill interrupted her "Six hours off-world and this is what you get; one rescued Tokra, alive and well...ish," He added, glancing at Martouf's bleeding side and leg. "I would've hated to be one of those party guests, waiting around for two hours for a no-show-I'm-busy-saving-Tokra-be-right-back bride. So tell us General, has Major Carter missed her first wedding?" He asked, a bit too cheerfully Sam thought. Even Martouf looked hopeful at the idea, though at least Daniel and Teal'c looked concerned.

"Don't worry Major," Hammond said "You're fine. After your last check in I called Mr. Shanahan and Jacob to reschedule. They'll take care of everything; the weddings to go on, next week." Sam sighed with relief.

"Thank you sir,"

Both Martouf and Jack looked extremely disappointed, and Sam felt a twinge of guilt again as all five, six including Lantash, seven including Junior, made there way out of the gate room, a medic assisting Martouf now. He looked even more disappointed that it was not Sam helping him as he was taken away to be looked at, Lantash already healing his wounds.


	2. Chapter 2 - Visitors

Thanks so much for the reviews/favorites/everything everyone! They're so positive! Especially thanks to Roeskva- my first review! Thank you! Hopefully I won't let everyone down... here's the next chapter!

...On a side note, I also do have a question for you: I have more chapters written and completed and I don't really think the story line in them is going to change... but I don't have the wedding scene. or the ending. And, well, that seems like a big deal to be missing. I've been trying control myself and post these just once a day so I have time to complete it, but maybe I should just share everything I have so far and hope for the best on writing the rest of it? I promise I wouldn't leave it unfinished! Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions ;D ?

Chapter 2- Visitors, Visitors, and More Visitors!

After cleaning up, the traditional medical exam (and comforting Martouf, who still insisted she should not have pushed off her wedding to rescue him, and dealing with Lantash, who informed her repeatedly that they would have been fine without the help), and debriefing, Sam happily retired to her lab to prod an alien device they had retrieved on a recent mission. She honestly had no idea what the device did, but the rest of her team and other SGC personnel were already placing bets on whether it would be the next be-all-end-all of the world, or not. (As far as she knew, everyone was betting that it was, except for Daniel, who someone managed to mess up placing a bet) A complete work-a-holic, Sam just couldn't rationalized leaving for another hour or two, even if she did have a waiting fiancee.

Just as she was settling in for some sweet science, the phone on her wall rang.

She hurried over, wondering what was wrong. "This is science lab 3, Major Carter," She answered.

"Major, there's a Pete Shanahan on the phone for you," A young officer said on the other side.

She sighed nervously, unsure how this was going to work out. "Okay Sergeant, patch him through," She ordered.

"Heeey Sweetie," Pete's happy voice came through "This is Sam right? I got the right place?"

She smiled "Yeah Pete, its me,"

"Oh good, I wasn't sure how many top-secret-alien-butt-kicking-bases with brilliant astrophysicists there were,"

Her smile grew brighter "Quite a few actually,"

"Really? You'll have to tell me about it sometime, I have the clearance now!"

"Pete..." She paused.

"Yeah? What's wrong? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No, no, its not that. Look, I'm sorry about today. It was supposed to be our wedding day, on your birthday... I'm really sorry," She said, not sure how to continue.

"Look, its okay. Knowing your back alive and well is the best birthday I want," Pete said.

Sam laughed and said "I'm sure you can think of a better present than that!" But her mood was still dark.

"Well now that you mention it," Pete said over the phone, oblivious to her thoughts "I can think of something. When are you coming home? I got lasagna baking in the oven, and every-things set out..." He started to describe the romantic mood but Sam interrupted.

"I just don't know."

"Don't know? I didn't think my cooking was that bad... Well if its either coming back or eating my dinner, I'll order pizza."

Sam sighed, trying not to crack a smile, even if he wouldn't see it if she did. "I don't know about this. About going through the Stargate, about putting myself in danger not knowing if I'll be able to come back to you the next day. I mean, we barely got Martouf out of there alive; who knows what would have happened had we been caught helping him," She shuddered, knowing all too well what Kronos would have done to them "I'm considering retiring; this might be just too dangerous. I don't want you coming home one day to discover I'm dead on some alien planet, or worse, just missing."

They were silent for a moment before Pete said somberly "I know what its like. I'm a cop. I don't want you to have to hear about my... death either. But we can't both retire- somebody has to pay the bills. Anyways, you love your work, I know you do. I love being a cop. The risk just comes with the job Sammy, we'll get through it." Sam still hesitated. "So," Pete said, changing the subject and trying to cheer up his fiancee "You saved Martouf, that alien that possessed you's boyfriend, right? He's a Tokra like your dad, right? He's one of my groomsmen, right?"

Sam smiled "Yes, her mates, Martouf and Lantash, and yes, they're a Tokra, and yes, one of many."

She could tell Pete was smiling again on the other end too "Yeah, I seem to have so many people jumping to the position, and I don't know half of them! Who we got now, Mark, O'neill, Siller, a Jaffa, this Tokra person,"

"Your brother," Sam added.

"Right, I'll have to remember that. So, we're on for next week- and this time, no secret missions, okay?"

"Yes sir," Sam said jokingly "All of Sg-1's gate travel has been suspended for the week."

"Glad to hear it. Now, there's just a few things we need to work out. First of all, me and Jacob- dad- called all the guests..." Pete went on to explain what was happening, happy to chatter away in Sam's ear as she took notes.

"And remember, no handing in your resignation papers without letting me talk you out of it first, okay?" He said at last.

"Okay; no retiring." Sam agreed.

"Love you!"

"Love you! Be home soon," She said, looking at the long list of notes. Maybe not so soon.

She sighed. It was hard work, wedding planning, and now they had to switch everything over to next week! Some of her guests had already backed out, but luckily they were mostly just family that she didn't know very well. She sighed again.

"You retiring, Major?" Jack O'neill asked from the door-way.

She looked up, startled, wondering how long he had been listening in while she talked to Pete. "Come in sir," She said, inviting him in without having to "No sir, not just yet." She said, answering his question.

"Well, you look you need some sleep Carter, you've been on your feet all day," O'neill said, bouncing an apple around in his hand. She was momentarily glad that he had found something else to busy his hands with, instead of her lab equipment.

"Yes sir, I'll be going home soon," She said.

"Home? Oh yes, going home... leaving base... well, you better say goodbye to that snake in the hospital..." She glanced up, unsure what he meant. "He's getting a bit antsy," O'neill clarified "Snakes shouldn't get antsy."

Sam paused "Uh... yes sir... I'll go say goodbye," She glanced down at her notes, the long list of new problems.

"Something wrong?" The Colonel asked, glancing briefly over the Major's sprawling hand writing, covering multiple sheets of paper.

"Not really sir, just the catering."

"Oh... food problems. You know, one time they tried to ban me from the mess hall!"

"Yes sir, I know, I was there."

"Or just the other week, I had a bowl of beans that just didn't settle right, it really caused-"

"I think I got the idea, sir." Sam said, interrupting him before he went any further. O'neill stared at her with his mouth open before nodding once and shutting it.

"Catering..." He said, poking at the device she had on her table. "I thought Jacob and the cop had everything worked out,"

"Well, yeah, they're working on it. Our original caterers are just not available next week and on such a short notice..." She trailed off, adding lamely "We really need caterers."

"Yeah, I think I got the picture; couple hundred people with nothing to gorge themselves on." He stopped, still messing with the device. She was getting ready to smack him if he didn't stop soon, for fear of damaging it. Or it damaging him. "Leave the catering to me Carter," He said, removing his hand.

"Really sir?" She said, a bit apprehensively, not sure what kind of food would appear at her wedding, or who would be serving it.

"Yes Major, I have connections."

"Well, I don't want to be a bother..."

"Nope, just leave it to me, I know people. I have the know. I have the in. I am on the inside," O'neill mumbled as he showed himself out "You will have food at your wedding," He called reassuringly over his shoulder.

She watched him turn the corner and disappear out of sight before she looked back down at the device. She glanced back up, unsure if she should run back after him and tell him it wasn't necessary. Shrugging and hoping for the best, she began clearing off her workspace once again.

A knocking sound came from the open doorway and she glanced up, to her surprise seeing Martouf standing there. "Forgive me, am I interrupting something?" Martouf asked, very politely.

"No, no, please come in," Sam said, silently putting her inner scientist to sleep again. "I was going to come see you before I left, I didn't know you were allowed out of the hospital."

"_Clearly we are,"_ Lantash remarked, taking over for his obviously exhausted host and approaching her "_I finished healing Martouf hours ago, but your doctor insisted I remain confined to the bed,_" He said disdainfully, clearing not appreciating Dr. Fraiser's orders.

Sam smiled. "She's just not use to her patients healing so quickly,"

"_Obviously,_" Lantash said "_I doubt she has many Tokra patients_,"

"Well with the alliance so good right now, maybe she'll get more," Sam said hopefully.

Lantash paused "_I am not sure why we would send you our dying, with or without a good alliance..."_

"No, what I mean is," Sam said, caught off guard once again.

Lantash smiled, and she stopped blabbering. "_I think I understand what you mean. Yes, the Tokra and Tau'ri have been getting along well; I would disappointed if it were any other way. Even your Colonel O'neill has not... as you would say... bitten off any of our heads of recently,"_

Sam laughed "Where did you get that from?" She asked, surprised at his words.

"_Your father has been teaching me many things about your world,_" Lantash said lightly "_And you._" He paused, staring into her eyes. She couldn't help but stare back. "_We will be honored to be... groomsmen at your wedding_,"

Sam nodded silently, drawing her head back a little from his. "It'll be good to have you,"

They stared at each other for a minute before Lantash bowed his head, and Martouf returned. He smiled as he looked up. "Forgive us, you were otherwise occupied. We will leave now, we just wished to wish you good night."

Sam smiled, and nodded back at him, not sure as to what she was supposed to say. She always felt uncomfortable around the Tokra, either finding herself invisibly attached to him, or ended up defending the Tau'ri against a fleeting remark made by him, or more likely, Lantash.

"See you tomorrow Samantha," He said, turning to leave.

"Uh yeah, if I come into work," She said. He looked disappointed but said nothing, bowing his head slightly and walking away, going in the opposite direction as O'neill had gone.

Sam sighed. She'd had enough, she was heading home; if anyone disturbed her, so help-her-god... She left quickly, happy to see Pete again, and still very, very nervous about the wedding looming ahead of her.


	3. Chapter 3 - O'neill

Ok guys I have some good (or is it bad?) news... I've had a whole new set of ideas for this story, and its probably going to have to be longer than I original thought! I know, I know, tragic but... hopefully it'll work out in the end! Cross your fingers! If people have any other favorites for who gets the girl, I'm still considering suggestions... otherwise I might just have to kill all the guys and leave single and alone forever! ;) ...kidding... just to make that clear... :) Chapter three!

_Chapter 3- O'neill's Day, Six days till the wedding_

Jack glanced at the Tokra across the room, his back turned towards the Colonel as he beat the stuffings out of a punching bag, literally. Even as Jack kept whacking his own punching bag harder and harder, their difference in abilities was clear. O'neill scowled, unhappy that someone had disturbed his morning exercise, which had become a sort of routine over the last couple months after Sam announced her marriage plans.

Another Tokra entered from the door to his left, and Jack took a good minute to stare at him before looking back at his target. He had recognized the man, unfortunately, from the base camp where the Jaffa and Tok'ra had attempted to live together, if briefly.

The Tokra cocked his head in an awkward nod of acknowledgement as he walked past Jack, and then walked over to Marty and briefly whispered to him, interrupting his rhythmic pattern of hits. Jack grinned, delighted that the Tok'ra's workout had been interrupted too. Marty's eyes flashed in what seemed like anger, and Jack inwardly shuddering, knowing that the snake was now in control. They talked more, before the second Tokra turned to leave and Marty- or his snake, Jack thought- continued beating up their target. He hit a little bit more vigorously though, and Jack hoped that whatever he had been told was bad news.

"O' Malley," Jack said, not stopping his punches. The Tokra walking past didn't even glance at him as he passed. "Mal," Jack repeated. The Tokra continued, and was almost at the door now. "Malek!" He shouted, stopping and turning to face the Tokra, who finally looked his way. He knew that if he heard sniggering from behind him, he was going to run over there and punch the little alien's lights out, host and all. But he heard nothing.

"_Forgive me, I was not paying attention,_" Malek said cautiously "_What can I do for you Colonel O'neill_?" He asked.

"Call me Jack, really," O'neill said sarcastically, whipping his forehead on his towel. The Tok'ra looked vaguely disgusted at the sight of Colonel O'neill with sweat pouring off him- O'neill was pleased with this for a minute, before he remembered that the Tok'ra, like the Goa'uld, had heightened senses. Smell was not something he was keen on either. "What's up with Marty?" He asked, not extremely put off as he moved toward the Tokra, who surprisingly didn't back up.

"_Lantash,_" Malek said slowly, emphasizing who was in control now "_and Martouf are working through a difficult time at the moment. Like you I believe._"

O'neill frowned "They are nothing like me. They are _nothing_ like me."

Malek looked away, toward the Tok'ra in question. "_You really dislike them... us, Tokra... so much_," It wasn't a question.

O'neill winced, noticing his mistake. Hammond had ordered him, repeatedly, not to jeopardize the alliance between the two species while the Tokra were here. He immediately back pedalled "No, no, not the Tokra. Just them, I don't get along with."

Malek nodded slowly. "_I see_." He paused, both of them looking at the oblivious Tokra "_Lantash- and Martouf- are good friends of mine. I know, they do not like you very much at the moment either._"

O'neill glanced at him, wondering if that was a rare hint of Tokra humor. But Malek's face was impeccably blank, and he couldn't tell for sure.

"_I must be getting back now,_" Malek said, interrupting their silent truce "_I am only here for a short while. I will return for the wedding, of course; Major Carter has invited me_." He nodded in a half bow towards Jack, before leaving.

Jack nodded back, glad at least one of the Tokra knew how to use her proper rank. The other Tokra however, was looking at him now. Lantash scowled. Jack scowled back. They both returned to their targets, without speaking.


	4. Chapter 4 - MartoufLantash

The last chapter was kind of short... so here's another one. Yeah, they're kind of both Tok'ra-centered... :)

_Chapter 4- Martouf's Vision, five days till the wedding _

After having been on a long mission impersonating one of Kronos's close advisers, and being shown as a Tok'ra traitor, other than the obvious concerns of imprisonment and torture and revealing vital information, Martouf and Lantash had been very concerned about missing Sam's wedding. Though they were sad she was no longer available, they did not wish to miss the event and for her to think they did not care enough about her enough to come. They also knew that it was partially due to the fact that they were close friends to Jacob/Selmak that they were being invited and allowed to stay on Earth anyways, so they wished to be there to support their friend too. Luckily, Sg-1 had rescued them in time.

To their disappointment, Sam had taken a leave of absence yesterday. Without her, they had spent much of their day in the Tau'ri training room, unfortunately accompanied by O'neill. They could tell by just the glint of mistrust in his eyes and the way he abruptly stopped what he was saying half way through lecturing them that he still did not like them. They honestly could not say they liked him either.

*But we may have found common ground* Martouf told his symbiote as they ate in the cafeteria. They had slept in, afraid that Samantha would be out again, and it was now lunch time. They watched the SGC personnel come and go, O'neill currently sitting at the table farthest away from them with Dr. Jackson and the large Jaffa, Teal'c.

*_Our unrequited love for Samantha_,* Lantash agreed, finishing his host's thought. *_If only. I do believe nothing will sway that Tau'ri in his loathing of us._*

*Loathing, beloved? I did not notice it was so strong. Nothing past hatred, I'm sure.*

Lantash gave a mental snort, but didn't respond. They continued people watching.

*_What is that?* _Lantash wondered half-heartily as someone walked by, carrying a tray with a large cup of strange red squares, jiggling as the person moved.

*I do not know. They seem to be eating it.* Martouf said, a little more curiously.

*_It looks unhealthy. Do not get one. Ah... Samantha has one.*_

*Samantha has one? Where is she?*

Martouf let Lantash take control and he turned their head to see their beautiful Samantha walking towards O'neill.

Martouf sighed in disappointed, and Lantash agreed. *_I hope she comes over here*_

*As do I, beloved, as do I.* They waited, watching her sit and eat her food. But she didn't not even glance their way, and they were not brave enough to approach her while her team was there. She finished before them, Lantash having paused at certain times while they finished their meal, leaving their mouth open as they watched. Martouf, laughing, reminded him what a fool they looked like then.

Samantha and the rest of Sg-1 got up and stacked their trays with the rest, then left. After a few moments, where Lantash unhappily looked over what was left of that disgusting chicken, some small round fruit called grapes, two rolls, and green beans which they had been unable to consume, they decided they had given Samantha enough of a head start, and went to go find her.

They arrived outside of her lab a few moments later, figuring that that was the most likely place to find her without having to wander to halls and ask if anyone knew where she was. By now, they knew exactly where to find her lab, and indeed, she was there.

Martouf watched her as she bent over a "microscope" and looked at something too small for her to see on her own. She wore gloves and goggles but still, she was beautiful. Oh, how much they would miss her being free. She had not yet answered their affection, but still, as long as she was unmarried, they considered her free.

*_But that has changed. She can no longer be ours- not even a glimpse of Jolinar in her,_* Lantash said mournfully *_You will have to stop eying her._*

*I was not the only one watching her, Lantash!* Martouf retorted, not taking his eyes of the woman who had yet to notice him.

Lantash sniffed *_You love her, I am merely a helpless observer._*

Martouf laughed slightly, knowing that it was a jest, for they loved as one.

*_And mourn as one_,* Lantash recalled the words from their first meeting with Samanta *_We will mourn that she has never come to see us as we have her._*

*Yes...* Martouf said somberly, taking a step into the room. *But let us speak to her, well we still have the chance. It is not a crime to enjoy her company,*

*_No, it is not._* Lantash said happily. *_And I will berate you if your thoughts are not appropriate either,_*

*Lantash!*

"Oh!" She said, having finally seen them. "Martouf!"

Martouf smiled. "Hello Samantha. How are you today?"

"Uh... fine. Um, good. I'm great." She babbled, gesturing for him to make room and sit down. "How are you?" She asked awkwardly as Martouf pulled out a chair for them to sit on.

"I am well," He said, smiling. Despite everything, they were still so awkward around each other. Sam smiled back.

"Good. That's good," She said, nodding her head.

*_She wants to know what you are doing here_,* Lantash informed him curtly.

"We just wanted to make sure you are happy," Martouf said out loud.

*_Is that what we came to ask?_* Lantash asked, mildly amused *_Or were we here only to spy upon her?_*

*Lantash!*

"Uh... Yeah, I think I'm happy," She said, flushing. They could not say for sure who felt it first, but now they both felt like they should reach out, hug her, tell her it was alright to be around them. Luckily, there was a table in-between them and her. "Or could be tired, I had a long night."

Her flush grew deeper, and he knew she would start rambling once more. They never saw her do it around another person, but whenever they were around she seemed to do it often.

*_You probably scare her_,* Lantash murmured softly.

*Lantash!*

Martouf smiled reassuringly, ignoring his symbiotes muffled comments. *_And you smile too much..._*

"Then you are happy with your marriage?"

"Yeah, I will be," Sam said.

Martouf continued to smile, less at what she was saying, but mostly because he was starting into those wide blue eyes again... *_Martouf!_*

"I do not know much about this wedding ceremony, or who else is getting married. Can you tell me more?"

"Uh... Sure, I'd be glad to. Well, we'll all be having another rehearsal in two days, so you can go through the ceremony... And dad will help... Basically, you help people to their seats and than you just walk down the aisle at the right time... I think... and stand up where everyone can see you..." She went on.

"And what about Pete Shanahan?"

"Um, what about him? He's the groom, so he comes in... Well, before me I know... Or do you mean like...? Well, he's a cop," Sam said, looking uncomfortable.

*_Stop her,_* Lantash pleaded *_We don't need to hear more,_*

"And you love him," Martouf added, gently interrupting her.

"Uh, yes. Yes, I love him," She said, reddening.

"I am glad you have found someone," Martouf said. *_And disappointed it wasn't me_,* Lantash finished.

"Thank you," Sam said. "I know it must feel like he's taking Jolinar away from you," Martouf shook his head sadly. He and Lantash did feel that way, that Jolinar and Samantha were both being taken away.

"It is your right to choose," He said. They sat in silence, watching each other.

*_Come Martouf, let us go. Leave her alone to her devices. I am sure O'neill will agree to spar with us again,_* Lantash said sadly *_That will make us forget... I hope..._*

Martouf stood "I will leave you now. I hope to see you again, around the base, and I assure you I will be at the rehearsal," He said formally, bowing his head as he left. Sam smiled and nodded, but said no last words.

Martouf sighed as soon as they escaped the lab and turned the corner, out of her sight. *Where do you think we can find O'neill?* He asked his companion dejectedly.

Lantash sent a wave of warmth towards his host, masking his own rejected feelings. *_Let us try the training room first, beloved._*


	5. Chapter 5 - Teal'c

Hmm... the problem with getting all these good reviews (thank you!) and suggestions is that, well, people are suggesting things I've already got written! SO MUCH FOR BEING ORIGINAL... ah well, I guess geniuses think alike... Anyways, here's the next chapter :)

_Chapter 5- Teal'c's Kel Noreem, four days till the wedding _

"Teal'c!" Someone called to him from a long distance away. Teal'c began to float up and out of the white mist, heading toward the voice that was summoning him.

"Hey buddy, you awake?" Colonel Jack O'neill asked, not yet entering the circle of candles Teal'c had arranged around himself.

"Indeed," He informed his commander.

"That's my man," O'neill said "How about some early morning boxing?"

"I will be there O'neill," Teal'c said.

"I meant now Teal'c,"

"Is it not very early?"

"It is, so what? There's a Tok'ra in the training room that's getting a lot of lucky shots in, so I need you to come and get in a few too," O'neill said, waving his hands for the Jaffa to stand up. "Need a hand up?"

"I am fine," Teal'c said, standing.

"Great, lets go!"

O'neill nearly pulled him through the corridors, the large Jaffa walking along obligingly. He had not even had time to wash up, change his BDU's, or put away the candles from his Kel Noreem, but O'neill didn't seem to notice, or care.

"Okay, here's the plan." His commander said as the stopped down the hall from the training room. The sound of somebody practicing echoed down the otherwise empty hall. "Don't let the Tok'ra have the upper-hand, okay?"

"Is it to be a fair fight O'neill?" He asked evenly.

"Yeah sure, fair as long as Junior doesn't have a heartache Teal'c,"

"I see..." Teal'c said slowly. "And this is the reason you do not combat the Tok'ra yourself?" He asked.

"Yeah, exactly! All I like is a fair fight. Now here's your gloves, go in there and get them!" O'neill said, as he attempted to push the Jaffa down the hall and into the room. Teal'c did not move, merely looked as his commander.

"I am not injured O'neill, I am capable of walking," He informed him.

"Right..."

The walked side by side down the hall and Teal'c turned to see the Tok'ra Martouf, and Lantash, waiting for them.

"_I see you have returned_," The man sneered. He could tell by the resonating voice that the symbiote, the Goa'uld- no, Tok'ra, was in control now. "_I was beginning to wonder. You have brought a friend- am I to have another opponent?"_

He did not know what to make of this competition as O'neill replied in turn. "I think you've met," O'neill said tersely "Teal'c, Lantash, Lantash, Teal' 'c's a stand in for me." The Tok'ra humphed. "You're going to box each other, I'm going to ref in case it gets brutal."

The Tok'ra looked indignant and Teal'c assured his commander "It will not O'neill,"

"Don't be so sure about that Teal'c," O'neil said, giving him one of his famous O'neill looks.

Teal'c would play fair though, and he expected the Tokra to do the same. Lantash was looking at him, calculating his power, he knew. He stopped forward, into the ring, and they bowed to each other.

"_Let us make this a fair and honorable fight,_" The Tokra said.

"Indeed,"

O'neill scowled on the side line.

They circled each other, the Jaffa content to let the Tok'ra make the first move. The Tok'ra clearly knew this, and waited for the right moment. The watched each other take a few steps, watched strategies fly through one another's mind.

"Will somebody start already?" O'neil asked angrily.

"_In our own time O'neill, in our own time._" The Tok'ra said smugly, patiently. "_This is why you are defeated so easily- you have the patience of a child,_" The Tok'ra spoke, and Teal'c did not wish for him to insult his commander so, however true it was. He would not be distracted though, and kept the circling Tok'ra in his sights at all times.

A punch to his side, he deflected easily. The strength in that simple testing blow surprised him- he was far too use to fighting the strength of O'neill, a powerful human but limited when compared to the strength of a Jaffa, Goa'uld, or Tok'ra. He resolved to avoid more punches, but still block some.

A few more hits came at him, increasingly faster until the Tok'ra's hands were blurred and it seemed as if he had more than two arms, many more. Teal'c blocked or dodged all of them, but he was concentrating hard.

"Go on the offense, go on the offense!" O'neill called.

At the sound of the order, Teal'c glanced up and seeing the opening, shot his hand through to slam into the Tok'ra's upper chest, near his neck. The Tok'ra gasped, stepping backwards and ceasing to throw punches. "_Colonel O'neill, that is unfair!_" He snapped.

"No its not- just watch any professionals box, the audience is always throwing out advice!" O'neill countered.

"Please do not interfere again O'neill," The Jaffa said before the Tok'ra could get another word in. O'neill looked unhappy and murmured something about gangs, but didn't object. Teal'c looked back at the Tok'ra who nodded.

"_I concede one clean hit to you. We shall begin again_."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, and they started, this time with Lantash on the defense side.

Three hours later Lantash, a drop of blood spilling from his host's mouth, and Teal'c both bowed again and stepped outside the ring, exhausted. The surrounding crowd cheered, disappointed with a tie but delighted with the fight.

O'neill, grinning, handed him a water bottle and towel, both of which he took quickly. "Good show!" He said. "I bet on you winning, if you had continued!"

Teal'c did wonder if he would have won, but did not say anything as he drank down the well earned water and O'neill wandered away to bother somebody else.

Lantash walked over to him, a water bottle in his hand as well. Teal'c nodded to the Tok'ra.

"_A fair fight,_" Lantash began "_You are a fierce opponent, Teal'c. Thank you for this opportunity. I hope to have the opportunity to fight you again sometime._" He smiled, having overheard O'neill's words "_With a favorable outcome, I'm sure. We'd make a good team too, if ever the Goa'uld were to challenge us to boxing,_" He chuckled humorously.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed, nodding his head in respect.

Teal'c escaped the departing crowd shortly, heading for Major Carter's lab. He found her there, examining one of the many strange devices brought back through the gate.

"Major Carter," He said, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Teal'c! Please, come in." She said, glancing up and then looking back down at her project "I heard I missed your big showdown in the gym,"

"Indeed." He said, moving to stand beside a table. "Are you in need of assistance?"

"What?" She asked, looking up again "Oh no, I just have to remove this..." With a small tool she pulled a wire away from the device and cleaning cut it "And then open this up..." She pulled of the top of the device "And then I can see what I'm dealing with here." She smiled, putting her tools down. "So, how can I help you?"

"I merely wished to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding, I have not yet had the chance," He said nodding and smiling slightly awkwardly. He did not know how it would affect their teamwork, and hoped that a family would not make him weak as he feared his family would sometimes. He shook himself, reminding himself he no longer believed family was a weakness. "I also wish to give you this," He said, holding out a small box he had retrieved from his room.

"Aw, thanks Teal'c," She said, taking it "Shall I save it till the wedding day?"

"I believe it is acceptable to open it earlier Major Carter,"

"Oh, okay. What is it?" She asked mischievously, looking away from the box.

"I will explain upon you opening it," He said, not giving in.

"Okay," She looked back down at the box, wrapped carefully in white wrapping paper with roses. She was pretty sure Teal'c had gotten Daniel to wrap it for him.

He watched her slowly peel away the paper, trying not to rip it. At last she saw the hand-carved box.

"Oh Teal'c... Did you make this yourself?"

"Indeed. You may open it."

She did so, carefully unlocked it and taking the lid off. "Wow..." She said, staring at the two thick bracelets laying there.

"They are marriage bracelets," Teal'c explained "On Chulak a wife would give them to her husband shortly after they were married to symbolize their eternal bond, and love is like a circle that never ends," He explained.

"Wow..." She said again. "These are really amazing, thank you Teal'c!"

He nodded, pleased she had liked his gift "You are welcome Major Carter,"

He turned and left, returning to his room to finish Kel Noreem, the rest of his day far less eventful than Sam's was.


	6. Chapter 6 - Rodney

Posts might be a little less frequent now that I'm getting into the stuff I haven't written yet... but its just starting to get to go the good stuff!

_Chapter 6- It Wouldn't Have Worked Out Between Us, three (and a half) days till the wedding_

"Oh great, just what I need..." Sam muttered under breath. Seriously, she just got into work! Well... a couple hours ago anyways. Then Teal'c had given her some interesting bracelets and a box with carved writing Daniel was absolutely crawling over and she really hadn't got the opportunity to get anything done and...

"Problem, Major?" Hammond asked from the big chair in the briefing room.

"No sir, I'll get right on it," She said immediately, berating herself for saying anything out loud. Strange light from the machine (gone now- Sam hadn't even gotten a chance to see it, or where exactly it came from. How she was supposed to work with that?), people injured, curious questions racing around the complex... Just another day at the SGC, Sam sighed.

"Sorry Major," Siller said as she passed, holding his injured hand out for the medic to wrap. "I was sure it was completely safe,"

She tried not to sigh again. It was three days till the wedding! Still, she had to be at work. Considering just the amount of damage the alien weapon could have caused, it was probably a good thing she had come into work today she figured. Admittedly, destroying it had not been on her schedule this morning but...

"No problem, Sergeant. Just be more careful next time- and please, don't remove anything else from my lab without my permission,"

"Yes ma'am. Its just- the other scientists wanted a look at it and-"

"Yes, I understand." She said curtly before she could stopped herself. "Damn. I'm sorry Sergeant, I don't mean to be so hard on you. But seriously, for all we know, it could have caused some real damage."

"Yes ma'am, I understand." He nodded as she passed, heading down the stairs.

She turned to go out the hall and to her lab, when a voice stopped her. "Do I spy an angry blonde beauty?"

She froze, turning on her heels. "Rodney!"

"The man of your dreams!"

"Rodney... What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood, thought I'd stopped by," He said, gesturing as if "in the neighborhood" meant "on top of the mountain". She couldn't quite tell if he was being sarcastic or not. He was Rodney after all.

"Really, what are you doing here?"

"Really, I was in the neighborhood. I heard you had a little problem in the lab- thought I'd stop by and see if you needed any help saving the planet... or... something..." His arrogance trailed off. "Anyways, aren't you happy to see me?"

She stared at him. "Well you're a bit late, all that's left if the paperwork and shipping what's left of the device out to Area 51."

"Oh, really." He paused, and their was a silence between them. "So, what's this I hear about a wedding? You see that Sergeant over them, what's his name? Walter? Davis? Harrimon? The one that dials the gate? Anyways, he seems to think that you're getting married in a few days and well I'm flattered, I would really have appreciated a little advance warning, I mean, I know you madly in the love with me but-"

"Wait, you think I'm marrying you?" She said incredulously.

"Well... just a thought. You mean you're not?"

"No Rodney, I'm not. I'm marrying Pete Shanahan... a cop."

"Oh...well... I guess... I didn't expect you to fall for the uniform but... I suppose... congratulations are order..." He said slowly, coming to terms with the fact that she was going to be taken. He tried to hug her- she immediately pushed him away, and he sighed, the arrogant expression quickly coming back to his face. "And all I have to say is, I'm sure we both know it by now, it wouldn't have worked out between us anyways,"

She rolled her eyes "That goes without saying. Well if there's nothing else," She turned on her heels and started stalking away, but he followed behind her.

"And when you have a kid, and his big blue eyes are looking up at you, I want you to think of the invisible bond between us and all the good times we've had; and name him Rodney, okay?"

"Oh please," She said, shaking her head.

"And- hey wait, I think my invitation was lost in the mail, I don't even know where the wedding is! Sam? Hey, wait! Where's your wedding?"

"Figure it out!" She called back over her shoulder as she disappeared around the corner.

Rodney stood in the middle of the hallway, staring at the spot where she had been. His shoulders fell and he murmured "No more Rodney + Sam = Perfect..." He stood there for a moment before turning to look at the passing Sergeant "Hey you, Skylar? Shymer?"

"Siller," the man corrected, staring at him and leaning away as best he could.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Are you going to Sam's wedding?"

"Uh... Yes... sir?"

"Great! Good for you! Everybody but me it seems... You know, there was a real thing going between us- I mean me and Sam- once. Anyways, where is it? When? What do I where?"

"Uh..."

* * *

Sam hurried along through the halls, making sure the annoying scientist or apologetic Sergeant weren't following her. Since her day was already ruined, she might as well meet up with Janet and make a break for it, she thought. They had a wedding rehearsal to prepare for! Sam was practically hyperventilating as she thought about... She seriously needed to practice for this.

* * *

Janet smiled as she saw her friend turn the corner. "Sam!" She called her over.

"Janet," Sam said, smiling as she approached. "You called?"

"One sec," Janet said, turning to give directions to one of her staff "He doesn't need that much- bring the dose down two grams, and give him a light sedative." She ordered curtly. "Dr. Mallery's shift begins any minute now, so somebody get her from her office."

Smiling, she looked back at Sam.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Sam asked as she followed Janet to her small office, where Janet's coat and purse were waiting. Grabbing her stuff, Janet sighed and confided in her friend.

"Its Cassie, Sam. She's really nervous about being one of your flower girls- she really looks up to you, and doesn't want to make any mistakes."

"So you want me to reassure her?"

"If you would, please. I've tried everything- she didn't even perk up when we got her dress refitted, and she's been so looking forward to wearing it. I tried telling her Mark's daughter was just as nervous, but she doesn't seem to believe me."

"I see... Okay Janet, I'll talk to her." Sam smiled brightly, not saying what she was thinking: how was she supposed to convince Cassie everything would be alright when she was freaking out herself?

"Thank you Sam," Janet said as the two of them walked into the elevator. Sam got to the button before her, pressing number one.

"So how is she and Anna getting along?"

Janet smiled "Really well- I think they're going to be really close friends after this!"

Sam smiled too "Great! I would hate it if my flower girls were at each others throats,"

They laughed together as the elevator doors opened and Janet followed Sam out. "I'm not quite sure I could see Cassie doing that anytime soon," She said cheerfully as the two of them passed through security and headed for the parking lot.

"Yeah," Sam agreed, laughing. "My flower girls will be amazing. It's everyone else that I'm worried about!"

* * *

Back in the complex, the sound of "Unauthorized Activation" was ringing through the halls.

"Receiving Tok'ra IDC sir! And hey... this is weird..."


	7. Chapter 7 - JacobSelmak

Sorry for the delay everyone... Life just had to step in and show me whose boss... Not the most pleasant of weeks, but I'm trying to get back into writing! And yeah, the last bit was just a teaser... and this is basically all fluff... Sorry... Well, hopefully the good stuff will start soon! Please bear with me!

Chapter 7- "The First Rehearsal"

*_Waaaake uuuupppp," _Selmak cooed to her host. "_Wa-aa-ake up dear Jacob... Waa-aa-aake uuup!*_

*Grumpfh* Was her only reply, which she took for a no.

*_Jaaacob... Jaaacob Caaarrter.._.*

*ugh...*

*_Get your ass out of bed lieutenant, you're due in the mess in two minutes!*_

_*_Sir, yes si- Selmak!* Jacob snapped at his sniggering symbiote.

*_After how many years, you still respond to it!* _Selmak laughed.

*Not funny, not funny at all.* Jacob grumbled, still struggling to wake up and look about. Selmak was in control. They were on a green planet, surrounded by newly blooming trees. They weren't far from the Chaap'ai.

*Where…?* Jacob wondered as Selmak gave him control. *Selmak, what has been going on? Where are we?*

*_A stop-over world. You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to wake you up before we got here. We're on our way to the Tau'ri! Time for our- your daughter to get married!*_

Jacob shook his head suddenly, stopping mid track.

*Selmak, I am _not _prepared for this!*

*_Reeelaax* _His symbiote cooed *_It's just a rehearsal. What could possibly go wrong?_*

*Selmak you- didn't… just… Selmak!* He howled inwardly. What _couldn't_ go wrong?

"_Is there a problem_?" Malek called over to him from beside the dialing device, looking concerned.

Jacob shook his head slowly. "No I just… my daughter… three days…"

"_Oh._" Malek agreed, not sure what he was supposed to say exactly. "_I see_…"

Jacob stood there for another moment, shaking his head in confusion, trying to work out what he thought about the matter. It wasn't that he didn't like Pete- no, in the couple times that he met the guy, he seemed nice enough, he supposed. Maybe not the best Sam could've come up with it, but if it made her happy… After all, how many times had he- and Selmak- been hinting to Sam that maybe, there was more to life that just work? Really, he shouldn't feel so put out.

*_He's just not our little Martouf and Lantash…_* Selmak sighed wistfully.

*Selmak!* Jacob frowned. There was always that- at least he wouldn't have a hundred-plus-year-old Tok'ra for a son-in-law. Or worse, O'neill. He shuddered, and headed toward the gate. Yeah, this was probably for the best.

"Malek, dial us out, I'm ready." He ordered, and the base commander quickly nodded and did what he was told.

With a quick sigh, Jacob sent the code, and they entered the gate. And they weren't the first ones there, by a long shot.

"Lieutenant, setup guest quarters in-"

"If I am not allowed off base, I would rather go home!"

"_Agreed_,"

"_This is preposterous. We could told we could attend the wedding._"

"Well I'm sorry but,"

"_General Hammond, if perhaps I could speak_-"

Jacob stared around the gate room, filled with Tok'ra. He counted at least twenty of them, more than that, if Malek and he were to be counted. Marines in black uniforms were also standing about, their guns still quite obvious. Other green-clad SGC personnel and medical workers flitted in and out of the Tok'ra. General Hammond stood in his light blue uniform in the middle of the crowd, the Tok'ra Anise right beside him.

*Selmak… what in the name of-*

*_Oopsies!_* His symbiote squealed, quickly trying to hide herself in the back of his mind.

*WHAT DID YOU DO?* Jacob roared, and Selmak mentally jumped.

*_I didn't do anything! It was Sam!*_

*What? Why are there so many Tok'ra here?! Explain yourself Selmak!*

Just then, Jack O'neill entered the gate-room. Jacob could hear him swearing from all the way across the busy room, and he was sure every other Tok'ra in the place could hear him as well. They went deathly silent, turning to stare at the Colonel. Malek stiffened beside Jacob and the retired General rolled his eyes. This wasn't going to be good.

"Thank you Colonel," General Hammond snapped at his second-in-command. "That will be enough. Now, I'm sorry for the inconvenience everyone. There seems to have been some kind of miscommunication-"

"We informed you in our first message we were coming," Anise cut in.

"Yeah, five freaking minutes ago," Jack snapped, barely stopping himself from adding a few more choice words. Daniel Jackson appeared behind him and had enough sense to give Jack a disapproving look before entering the fray, heading for General Hammond.

"Ok, ok, now if someone could just explain- ah, Jacob," The General said, catching sight of him.

"Sorry George," Jacob sighed, stepping down from the platform and making his way to his old friend. "One of our bases had to be evacuated, I took a nap after all the chaos settled down and then… This happened! I'm as much in the dark about it as you are."

"We were invited," Anise cut in, "We received the invitation this morning,"

*Selmak! I told you, only invite-*

*_I didn't do anything!_* His symbiote protested *_We picked up the signal this morning, at the new base. I would've told you about it but you were-_*

*-asleep.* Jacob scowled. He was never, ever, sleeping again. Too much happened.

"_We received an invitation. Am I correct to assume that the Tau'ri did not, in fact, actually send it_?" A female Tok'ra asked.

"No," Jack said firmly.

"Wait, back up," Jacob said. "You think _you_ were invited to this?"

"I _was,_" Anise interrupted. "_You said I could be a... bridesmaid. Major Carter needs bridesmaids." _

"What about me?" Someone else interrupted. "I could be a... brides...maid... too,"

"_And me!_"

Jacob snapped, his temper reaching boiling point. "There is _no way_ I am having all of you at Sam's wedding! _None. _If anything goes wrong, and I mean _anything_, I would personally-"

*_Jacob...*_ Selmak cooed a quiet warning, and he tried to control himself. Now wasn't the time for infighting, especially not in front of the Tau'ri.

"-you would get night shift for the rest of your lives!" He scowled at each of them in turn, making it clear it would be even worse than that. He was not having anyone ruin Sam's wedding, not some bumbling scientist, overzealous Anise-groupie, or die-hard Tau-ri hater.

*_Some of them are good people...*_ Selmak pleaded *_What's the harm?* _

Daniel coughed awkwardly. "Well, perhaps those of you who aren't going to the wedding would consider a tour of the facility in exchange..."

And with that, the chaos burst out again.

Hammond sighed next to Jacob. "I've never seen Tok'ra so agitated before,"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they expected a party. _Not _going to happen."

"Well, I'm sure we could do something around here..." Hammond murmured, trying to picture what kind of party the Tok'ra might like. He couldn't think of any.

"_If I may make a suggestion_," Lantash interjected said, appearing from out of the crowd, Daniel making room for him, Jack still sulking and scowling. "_Perhaps those of us that were actually invited to the rehearsal... should leave now_,"

The General looked up. Most of the Tok'ra and surrounding Sg personnel did look quite distracted. "Agreed," He nodded. "Good to see you again Jacob,"

Jacob nodded. "Likewise, George. I apologize for this mess again," He sighed. Whoever made up that nonsense about an invitation was so going to get it when he found out who it was.

"Come on kiddies," Jack suddenly brightened, leading away his charges. "We have a rehearsal to attend to!"


	8. Chapter 8 - Daniel

Well... just wrote this one up... Still getting everything set up... Hopefully its not too bad... Oh, and its a long one! Enjoy! Reviews welcome! (and thank you for all who have reviewed!)

_Chapter 8- Final Rehearsal Part 1 (The Setting), two days till the wedding _

Sam sighed, glancing out her window as Pete drove her to through the suburbs, chatting away happily. The morning sun was just coming over the trees, and there was a cool breeze in the air. She smiled. Her heart was going a million miles an hour. _One more day_, she thought, _just one more day!_

Yesterday's rehearsal had gone well, she thought. Well...

*Sixteen hours earlier*

Sam waited outside the church as the black van swerved into the parking lot, screeching to a halt a few feet in front of her. She smiled as she saw her dad hop out of the car, followed by an upset looking Martouf- no, she corrected herself, an angry looking Lantash (she was glad she could tell the difference)-, a vaguely car-sick Malek and a happy-looking Anise. O'neill got out of the driver seat, looking a bit disappointed at the results of his speeding.

"_Hey Sammie_!" Selmak said, waving at her as they helped Malek (who was wobbling about a bit) to the curb. She did an inward double take but managed to keep smiling. Selmak bowed their head and Jacob came forward. "Hey Sa-"

"I got to ride shotgun!" Freya said excitedly, interrupting Jacob as she hurried over to clasp Sam's hands, kissing her on either cheek. Sam was a bit shocked. "I am so happy to be part of your wedding!"

"What?" Sam said, blinking rapidly.

"You are disappointed to see me? I did hope we were forgiven for the last incident with-"

"Yeah no its just," Sam mumbled, trying to diffuse the situation but now a bit put out with her father. "...No one told me you'd be coming..." Freya frowned, and Sam quickly added "Still, go on in, Janet will explain to you everything."

Freya smiled, casting a glance back at O'neill before she hurried into the church.

"Alright campers," O'neill said to the Tok'ra "You heard the lady. In we go. No glowing eyes or... voices now. "

Jacob rolled his eyes and walked past the Colonel, going to greet his daughter. "Sorry I'm late kiddo, one of our bases had to be evacuated. Just came through the... er... well, just arrived in... state an hour ago. And then this guy," He gestured at O'neill "Got us lost."

Sam laughed, happy to have her dad with her at last, and apparently in a good mood. "It's ok, we weren't planning on starting on time anyways. Especially not without all of you. Though Pete was getting worried."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure he was," Jacob said, thinking of his daughter's betrothed.

"Just uh... Anise, Dad?" Sam asked quietly, pulling him even further aside from the others as they passed into the church. "When you told me I needed more bridesmaids and suggested a Tok'ra..."

"Honestly Sam, it wasn't my idea." Jacob said, having been fighting Selmak about it for the last day "It'll be fine, I promise... Who did you think I was talking about anyways?"

"Well I don't know, I heard Garshaw was on the base negotiating that new treaty... or maybe... Well, there was a lot of you weren't there?"

Jacob shook his head. "Selmak asked. Garshaw doesn't think it would be right. Anyways, Anise asked first."

Sam still looked put out and Jacob sighed. "Anise- and Freya- really wants to experience some of the more... well, some of the traditions of our culture Sammy, it'll be good for them. She won't mess up anything, probably."

Sam nodded slowly and he relaxed. Anise wasn't exactly the person he wanted to see in all his daughter's wedding photos either, but still. It could've been a lot worse.

"Anyways, I thought the invite said anyone was invited. I didn't know you to be so casual but Anise assumed-"

"Invite?" Sam frowned. "You mean what I said to you last month?"

"Actually from what everyone tells me, they received a transmission from Earth sometime this morning. I was off world at the time but... Well, it was nice of you to remind us. Like I would forget my daughters wedding," He laughed, making light of the chaos earlier.

Sam frowned, a little perturbed. Had she sent the Tok'ra a message and forgotten about it? "I don't remember sending anything... maybe O'neill was trying to prank or something,"

Jacob scowled. "I'm all for pranks but if he thinks he's... Hey..." A new thought suddenly occurred in his mind, "Hey, the others just arrived, a surprise visit at that, how did you know they were here?"

"The Snake Watch," Sam said, suddenly nervous, trying not to blush, or look at her commanding officer waiting by the door. She quickly hurried past her father, heading into the church.

Jacob scowled, following his daughter in and glancing at the Colonel, who was still loitering by the door, watching them. *_Let's go have a chat_,* Selmak suggested, wiggling in glee at the thought of terrorizing O'neill again.

In the end though, everyone was resigned to play their parts and do a good job. Nothing went wrong, and even Anise was a great help, as she quickly became friends with Mark's wife and her daughter, and even Cassandra, thought Janet still had her doubts about the Tok'ra. Still, Sam was glad to see her bridesmaids were getting along. Jacob, however, kept a closer eye on her groomsmen.

*Present time*

"You alright?" Pete asked.

"What?" Sam asked, coming back to the present.

"You're a bit quiet. Something bothering you?"

Sam glanced over at Pete. He was too good for her, so caring, no matter what odd hours of work she had, or where on Earth... or not... she was. He even suffered through a lecture on astro-physics to be with her. I mean, it wasn't like anyone else had done that before. Actually, half the time it was her who was giving the lecture. And there'd only ever been one who could really understand...

She smiled. "I'm fine. Everything's going to be great."

Back at the SGC...

"Oh!" A startled linguist turned the corner and froze "Dr. Jackson! I didn't expect to see you here!"

He looked up from the tablet he was translating. "Its my room..." He said slowly, rubbing his eyes. He'd spent the night working, again.

"Well, yes, of course," She said, struggling to hold the stack of books she was carrying. "But I thought you were going to be at the wedding rehearsal with the rest of Sg-1,"

"What, is that today?" Daniel looked at the clock. To his surprise, it was fifteen minutes before the rehearsal was about to start. Muttering a curse in ancient Greek, followed by two more in German and Goa'uld, Daniel hurried past his startled coworker, barely having time to grab his trusty notebook. Quickly, he turned and grabbed an ornately carved box as well, promising himself he would return the bracelets to Sam now (before Teal'c saw he had borrowed them). "Thank you!" He shouted over his shoulder at the woman as he ran through the hall.

"You're welcome!" He heard her call back as the elevator doors shut.

Daniel waited impatiently as the elevator slowly moved down the mountain. Luckily, he only a few floors to go. Jack was going to kill him for being late, and it wasn't even his wedding! He hoped Sam wouldn't be too mad, or disappointed. Daniel lept through the elevator doors, startling those waiting there, yelling "Excuse me!" As he rushed past.

Quickly flashing his ID card he escaped through security, running out of base toward the parking lot, the patrolling airmen stopping to look at him before continuing their route, having often seen the forgetful archaeologist hurrying about like this before.

Daniel jumped in his little car, dumping the few items he had managed to grab on the seat next to him. He slammed the battered grey door and pulled hectically out of his spot. He drove a lot faster than he normally did, only slowing once when he saw a sign in Chinese, and when he passed a school zone on the way to the church.

"Hi Dr. Jackson!" Yelled a some kids on a playground as he passed.

"Hi kids, get back in school!" He shouted as he roared past. This was familiar territory now, and he knew he had only a couple blocks left. He glanced at his watch and sped up.

Finally, he swerved into the parking lot and stopped. Jack O'neill was tapping his feet and waiting impatiently on the curb. "Damn," Daniel muttered under his breath as he sat in his car.

"Daniel," Jack said, coming over to him and looking through the downed window.

"Yes Jack?" Daniel asked, knowing he was in for it.

"You're late."

"Yes Jack," Daniel sighed, opening the door in his commander's face. O'neill took a step back.

He stood up and looked into Jack eyes, pleading for no punishment. O'neill sighed. "Fine, lets get in there. Carter was worried you weren't going to make it,"

"You could've started without me," Daniel pointed out. "I'm not a groomsman."

Jack snorted "Yeah, she had too many, I know. You're making a speech at the end, you gotta practice Danny boy,"

"I practiced in front of the mirror," Daniel informed him as they opened the two large brown cathedral doors. Heads turned, and then went back to running about, or talking.

Daniel immediately caught up with Sam and Pete to see if there was anything he could do to help (and congratulate them, once again). Finding nothing to entertain him, he settled into his new found routine of following Jacob Carter around, and asking details about the Tok'ra and Goa'uld whenever he wasn't busy. Selmak was also quite happy to talk about her past hosts, and where they had come from, and how many languages they had spoken, which Daniel found absolutely fascinating, especially when Selmak told him she was still fluent in quite a few of her former hosts tongues.

Soon though, Malek escaped the fitting room and caught up to Jacob, leaving Daniel with no one to talk to.

"We have to do this _again_?" Malek- at least Daniel thought it was Malek. He was acting a bit odd to be Malek- asked. "I learned what I needed to do the last time."

"Yes well things can happen," Jacob was telling him, adding quietly "And it's really Sam and Pete that need practice. They're a bit nervous."

Malek nodded. "You seem nervous as well."

"I'm _not _nervous!" Jacob shouted at him, and Daniel smiled, taking his leave of them as Malek apologized.

It was now almost two hours into the rehearsal... and quickly, Daniel realized, things were starting to go wrong.


	9. Chapter 9 - Sam

**Well gee... This took awhile to post! Hopefully there's still some readers out there :) I was traveling the country (usa)- getting lots of ideas, naturally. None of which I think I'm using in this story, but still... I'm actually out of town again now, and this time I should have time to finish this story up, and get some new ones up and running! Excited~ **

**Reviews welcome!This probably is a bit rougher then some of my other work, but here we go:  
**

_Chapter 9- Final Rehearsal: Trouble - two days till the wedding_

Daniel knew something was up the moment he saw Jack glance around, and sneak out of the church. He was even more surprised when Martouf and Teal'c abruptly ended their conversations (or not, in Teal'c's case), and followed O'neill out. He glanced back at the group. Pete was talking to the pianist. Sam was watching some of her bridesmaids. Jacob and Malek were discussing fashion. Daniel quietly slipped away.

A few moments later,

"Are you sure this is what Samantha wants?" Martouf asked hesitantly, glancing over to the Jaffa for confirmation.

"Major Carter has expressed her enthusiasm with these substances before," Teal'c half-agreed.

"Yeah, you tell him Teal'c," O'neill encouraged as he picked up a sample platter from his truck. The other two held plates as well, a bit uncomfortably in Martouf's case. He was still not quite sure how he and Lantash had been tricked into helping with O'neill's scheme. Yesterday after the rehearsal, O'neill had actually asked them for help (yes, O'neill, asking for help! They were stunned), and of course, if it was for Samantha, they were obliged to help. Now they were starting to think, that might not have been the best idea. They had no idea how the stony Jaffa had been roped into the colonel's plan, or the usually reserved archaeologist.

Meanwhile, life went on inside the church. Sam was starting to relax, at least one of her problems seemed to have disappeared: Anise and Freya were proving themselves quite useful and surprisingly friendly brides maids.

"Actually, where I come from, princesses often wear their skirts like this... hem a little here... and add a strip of black here, and you're a princess!" She was telling Mark's daughter.

"Really?" Anna said excitedly.

"Indeed. And maybe you could make it a nice lovely light blue... Tok'ra blue I'll call it, that would be better than pink; it'd match your eyes so perfectly!"

"What's Tokra? A flower?"

Anise (or was it Freya?) smiled. "Close enough. Now, if you were a little older you could-"

"-I think the first idea was good enough," Mark's wife, Jolenne, cut in, having caught on early to some of Anise's quirks, and Anna squealed excitedly.

"Can we make one for Cassie too?"

Sam smiled, walking away from the conversation, glad they were all getting along. She wished that could be said for her groomsmen as well! The thought made her sad for a second. Why couldn't all those blasted guys just stop scowling at each other and be happy for her?

It had been awhile since the wedding nerves and calmed down long enough for her to just take a breathe, and look around. There were two flower girls, two bridesmaids, one pianist, one Tok'ra, and one Pete left in the large room. For some reason, Sam suddenly felt so alone.

It was at that moment that she realized, half her Groomsmen were gone. Some, she already knew where they were. Mark had had to rush out to get Milo, his young son, a special drink because he had refused to stop singing (loudly, and quite off key) without it. Pete's brother had no sooner stepped through the door than he had been called away again, on some important police business (he hadn't even stopped to say hello to his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Sam noted.) Siller hadn't even made it to the door- he'd fallen and cut his hand open on a piece of glass in the parking lot. It was his already-injured hand too. Janet was bandaging him up in the back. But more importantly, O'neill, Malek and Martouf were missing. Was Daniel talking to her dad again- nope, Sam realized, Daniel was missing too. The nerves were returning again, big time.

"Hey Dad," Sam said, hurrying over to her father. He looked up at the flowers he was arranging, and Selmak winked at her.

"How can I help you sweetie?" Selmak asked sweetly, holding out her arms to hug Sam, again. Sam sighed. Selmak liked hugging- she wondered what her dad thought of that.

"Hey Sel, have you seen any of the guys?"

"The guys? Well, Pete's over there," Selmak winked again, and Sam knew her dad must be wincing inside. "And... here comes the others," He nodded to behind Sam, and she turned to see what he saw. "What are they..."

Sam gasped in surprise. O'neill led the pack, carrying two trays of what appeared to be take-out him, Daniel followed, looking completely confused. Martouf and Teal'c followed after him, carrying their own trays.

"What's this- free food?" Pete called, walking over with a smile on his face. "We haven't even done any work yet!"

Sam hurried over, hoping Pete had nailed it. Free food? That was right up O'neill's alley. But he shouldn't have brought it in the cathedral, that was for sure!

O'neill grinned maniacally. "Free catering! Don't worry, I'll pay for it. Alright, bride, groom," He nodded to Sam, then Pete. "Make your selections. We have..." He made the other's display their trays. "Steak from O'Malley's- had to get Marty to order, since we were banned, you remember Sam-, jello from the mess hall- blue, of course-, those fancy chips and salsa you liked Sam, pizza- same place as we get it for Star Wars Night-, some donuts," He laid out the menu.

"That is not wedding food." Pete pointed out bluntly, bravely interrupting O'neill.

"No," O'neill responded, puffing up his chest a little. "But they're Sam's favorite."

Sam could barely even speak. What could the colonel possibly be thinking? Pete frowned.

"I know what my wife's favorite food is!"

"_Future _wife," O'neill emphasized. "And I doubt it."

"I apologize Samantha, but is this not what you requested?" Martouf quietly asked Sam as the two men glared at each other.

"No, of course not!" Pete snapped at the man before Sam, still in shock, could respond. "Right Sam?"

"Hey," Colonel O'neill quickly defended himself "I got this catering thing down to a science. I know Murray. Teal'c, tell him about Murray."

"Murray has much experience in the catering business," Teal'c attempted to assure them. "I am Murray."

"_And_," O'neill grinned "The Snake Watch informs me we still have a whole bunch of Tok'ra who are willing to cater as well. Its perfect!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I already have aliens in my wedding, I don't need any more hanging about!" Pete shouted, ignoring the fact he was surrounded by aliens.

"Pete," Sam whispered, hoping that of all of them, he would listen.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," O'neill mimicked. "These are the kind of people Carter knows!"

"Don't pretend you know her like I do," Pete snapped. "I know who her friends are, and no stinking snakes are friends of my wife!"

"Pete!" Sam said a little louder, taking a step away from him. Martouf and Lantash winced visibly- glancing behind her, she saw her dad scowl. Malek and Teal'c made no response. The argument was just beginning, and it was all Sam could do to not turn around and run. Lantash flashed his eyes and got involved, her dad was just about blew a gasket, Daniel was doing his best to calm everyone down, Malek- or his host, as the case may be- kept adding unhelpful comments, and Teal'c was eating a donut. Her bridesmaids were standing by a pew, shocked. They had covered Cassie's and Anna's ears. Sam felt nothing but absolute embarrassment.

"Sam, just how much time do you spend with these men?!" Pete suddenly shouted.

Sam's jaw dropped. Did Pete think- was he serious?!

Just then, the large doors of the cathedral opened, and Rodney Mckay stepped in, flowers in hand, momentarily stopping the argument.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked. "Is this the wedding? Where are all the people? Am I late? Sam? Sam? Where are you going?"


	10. Chapter 10 - Allies?

_Chapter 10- Invasion of the allies- two/one days till wedding_

It was already dark out when the Taxi pulled up, and Samantha Carter got out. She walked calmly up the path to her front porch, doing her best to walk in a straight line. One of her neighbors, just getting back from a very long day of work, waved high, before slipping away to get some sleep. That's what Sam wanted to do- _sleep_. Forever.

She tentatively reached out to open her door, half-expecting Pete or her dad to be waiting inside for her. Nothing. The house was as still and as silent as she had left it. When was the last time she'd been back here? A week ago? Longer? Pete had somehow talked her into getting a new home, and that's where they'd be staying. There was even a "For Sale" sign sitting in her front yard right this very moment. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she thought. When she woke up in the morning, she was taking that for sale sign down and shredding it into a million pieces.

As soon as Sam flicked on a light and closed the door behind her, she fell to pieces. She _swore_ she had had only one beer (or was it two?), but whatever the case, all her emotions seemed to come pouring out of her. She stumbled to bed and almost immediately, fell into a restlessly sleep.

The next day, four men had the same thought on their mind: _I have to find Sam. Samantha. Carter. _

Pete didn't go into work that day. How could he? After driving by her house, he knew where his fiancee was- but wasn't sure how to approach her. Instead, he did his best to regain some trust with his father-in-law, and the snake in his head. Pete winced. He should _never _have used that term.

Sam didn't go into work either. Her commander officer paced the halls, the general's office, the mess hall, the science lab, anywhere he could go. Anywhere, except the training hall that is. That was Martouf and Lantash's territory- there, Malek (and not his host, thankfully), helped spar with them, and keep their frustration at bay. Sulking in a corner of one science lab, Rodney Mckay spent his time. He wasn't quite sure if anyone important knew he was on base, so he kept mostly to himself, not wanting to be kicked out, and muttering the entire time. Something about impossible odds, warp theory, and an equation involving Sam. Still, no Sam appeared. She'd had enough.

The day wasn't entirely uneventful, not by a long shot. The first sound of "Unauthorized activation" started at 8:00 in the morning, and practically didn't stop all day

"Bra'tac!" O'Neill said, falsely cheerful, as he strutted into the gateroom. General Hammond and Teal'c, as well as Daniel Jackson and a platoon of armed guards, had made it there before him.

"Colonel," General Hammond nodded, welcoming him into the fold. "Bra'tac has just been telling us some startling news. If you would,"

Bra'tac nodded "It appears that someone is attempting to sabotage Major Carter's wedding by sending out false invites."

"Unless, that is, she invited _all_ the free Jaffa on Bra'tac's new home world without telling us," Daniel said, staring at O'Neill.

"Don't look at me," O'Neill shrugged.

"No Colonel, I want you to tell me it wasn't you who sent out the invite." Hammond said, turning on his second-in-command.

"It wasn't me," The Colonel stated immediately.

"Now given recent events, I find that a little hard to believe Colonel, do you-"

"It wasn't me General, I swear," O'Neill protested, holding up his hands to show his innocence and looking as confused as the others felt. "I mean, I haven't been off world in days, and I was accounted for on every mission. Why, when we rescued Marty, I didn't even have time to tie my shoelaces, let alone deliver- how many invitations did you say?"

"What Colonel O'Neill says is correct." Teal'c decided simply. "It could not have been him."

"And, these invites were not delivered in person, but by ra-dio." Bra'tac pronounced, holding up a walkie-talkie. "Teal'c assured me it was okay to keep this."

General Hammond nodded, "Do what you like, we have plenty."

Bra'tac nodded back. "I do not believe the voice I heard on this was O'Neill's. But it was a male voice, and that is why I suspected it was not sent by Major Carter."

"That's a pretty good guess," O'Neill agreed. "Male voice? Anybody? Who knew about the wedding?"

Just then, the ring started to activate, and they were all forced to take a step back.

"A team returning?" Daniel wondered aloud, as miffed as anyone else as to what was going on.

"None that I know of," The General said, staring at the gate as he ordered "Sergeant, close the iris!"

The iris sealed shut, but it didn't do much good. The gate shimmered slightly, and an holograph of Ba'al appeared in midair. His confident sneer was ever present.

"Holy-" O'Neill started.

"Doctor, can he do that?" General Hammond asked Dr. Jackson.

"Indeed he can," Bra'tac said. "And now he has."

"Well I guess that answers that question," O'Neill snapped. "And now we know who hates Carter, he's definitely behind all this."

Ba'al laughed. "Foolish Tau'ri. I have much simpler ways of torturing you then marrying you off."

"So you admit, you know about the wedding, and invited _way_ too many people," O'Neill accused.

Ba'al laughed again, apparently enjoying this (but rather disappointed Major Carter wasn't there). "This was not my doing. But rest assured, when I have you and your team in my grasp again, I will remember that one of you has someone she wants to go home to."

They almost all scowled, except for the Jaffa, who exchanged a quick glance and a sigh.

"So, excuse me," Daniel cut in. "How exactly did you figure out there might be a wedding anyways?"

Ba'al smiled, and held up another radio. "I was invited, you see. Through these. Believe me, one of my Jaffa was stunned when they all started talking at one. Magic of the gods," Ba'al grinned. "And the ability of the Tau'ri to leave all their trash lying around the galaxy. I thank you," He nodded his head mockingly, and vanished. The gate shut down.

They all paused for a moment, in silence, trying to understand what was possibly going on.

"Do you think he..." Daniel wondered aloud, trying to imagine the kind of chaos it would cause if Ba'al attacked the wedding.

"Nah, he's just showing off," O'Neill scowled as he read the doctor's mind. Was Ba'al just showing off? They all certainly hoped so.

Their day had just begun though, and they'd soon have a lot more people to worry about as a dozen more groups filled through the SGC, under the impression they were invited to Carter's wedding. The Tok'ra and Dr. Mckay, as well as a few other bumbling scientists, were pulled together to figure out what the heck was going on. They managed alright until almost one o'clock at night, on the day of the wedding.

"Offworld activation!" A lieutenant called out from the gateroom. General Hammond sighed.

"Who is it this time Lieutenant?"

"Sir... we are not receiving an IDC,"

"I think I know who it is." Colonel O'Neill said, nodding down to the gate room. The iris was warping like someone sticking their figure into silver mud until suddenly, an orange cat slipped out, and walked its way down the platform.

"Someone call Major Carter," General Hammond said, stunned. "She's going to want to see this."


	11. Chapter 11- Narim

**A bit of a slow chapter... but it moves the plot along. Enjoy! **

_Chapter 11- The explanation, A Surprise - wedding day? _

Sam sighed, and rolled over in her sleep. Her dreams were nightmarish, but vague. Something, something, flashes in the dark. Someone screams. She trips- except, something's not right. It's like its her, but not her body, and she's not controlling it. She's just a prisoner. More darkness. Dogs barking. A jaffa, yelling something. Hiding, fast. Fear. She can smell fear on her skin, and she knows they can smell it to. Faces flash in her mind, people she's failed, people's she's disappointed. People she'll never see again.

Her side aches painfully, more painfully than a dream should. The sound of footsteps nearby. Darkness. She knows she's fading quickly. Suddenly, a dog, licking her face. She muffled a scream, instead, looking up into his eyes. He bears no mark of a jaffa. His face is not unfriendly, just confused. A fur trader, walking his dog: she recognizes him from the market nearby. What must she look like to him? She tries to imagine, but gives it little time. She has not much time to spare, not now. Darkness. Sorrow. Pain. The jaffa are still coming. "Please," She whispers, holding out her hand. Her voice sounds different, strange, distorted, the man jerks back. "Please," This time, her voice sounds more human, but so quiet, so defeated. "Save her."

Darkness. Sorrow. Pain.

Sam jerks awake, herself again as the phone rings. Instinctively, she looks beside her, expecting Pete to be there. He would wake instantly, make some joke about work and insane hours, and pick up the phone. But this time, he wasn't there.

She almost didn't answer the call before she remembered, this was her house. They wouldn't be calling for Pete.

"Major Carter?"A sergeant breathlessly asked on the other side.

"Yes?" Sam said, trying to become fully conscious. Darkness. A forest. Was she-? No, she turned on the light by her bedside. Still her same old home. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing changed. No Jaffa chasing her, no Pete snoring. Silence. She sighed. She should get a cat.

"We have a problem." The sergeant told her informatively.

"Emergency?" Sam wondered, glancing around for her gun. Were they getting invaded? People brainwashed? Alien life forms accidentally escaped the mountain? She wanted to be prepared for the worst.

"Well..." The sound of 'unauthorized activation' could be heard in the distance. "Its kinda hard to say. You better get down here, and fast."

Back at the SGC, Schrödinger was back into the arms of his proper owner.

"Narim! Its good to see you alive," General Hammond said as he hurried into the gateroom.

"Indeed," Narim said as he stopped petting his cat.

"How'd you escape the Goa'uld?" Jack said, not unfriendly, but still with a little suspicion in his voice.

"I owe it all to the Tau'ri," Narim informed them, and the Tau'ri exchanged glances. What had they done this time? "One ship, with little more than hundred passengers, survived. We were among the last ones out- when we attempted to go into hyperspace, our ship was badly damaged by the Goa'uld. We managed to escape but our navigation and main communication systems were completely destroyed. We were lost in space, with no way of knowing where we were- that is, until we received your message."

"Please," General Hammond beckoned to the door. "I look forward to hearing all about it in the briefing room. If you wouldn't mind, our Doctor Frasier would like to have a look at you."

"Of course," Narim agreed, peacefully passing on his cat to a waiting soldier, before following the General out the door. Jack and Daniel paused a little longer.

"If he's a Goa'uld..." Daniel started.

"Carter's not going to be happy." Jack finished. "I know. But at least he's alive." He spoke sincerely, but frowned as he said it.

A little over an hour later, Samantha arrived in briefing room for the shock of her life.

"General, I think I figured out what caused the- Narim!" She gasped, as she saw him calmly sitting there. He stood as she approached, watching her face for a response she was desperately trying to control. Narim was _alive?_ How was that possible? It was all she could think.

"Major," General Hammond welcomed her. "I think you remember Narim,"

"Samantha," He greeted her.

Behind her, Lantash and Martouf were eyeing this new man. No one besides them called Sam 'Samantha'. Rodney also eyed the alien, and Siller stood there, glancing back and forth between the men.

"Narim," Sam said at least, still shocked, but smiling. "We thought you were dead,"

"He almost was Major," General Hammond agreed, beckoning for them to find a seat. Sam sat across from Narim, next to Teal'c. Mckay quickly snuck in beside her, and the others moved to Narim's side.

"Apparently, we owe whoever sent those wedding invites a debt of gratitude: it helped save Narim and his people."

"Wow, that's great." Sam said truthfully. "About that," She started getting down to business. "I think I've figured out what happened."

"Oh? Care to explain Major?" Hammond asked curiously.

"It was actually Siller here," Carter explained. "And the machine I was working on a couple days ago. When he tried to move it, it seems like he activated it. The guys," She nodded towards Rodney, who raised a hand, and Martouf, who looked a bit apologetic "Accidentally activated it again and I was able to figure it out and shut it down. It seems like the machine is designed to be some kind of distress beacon. It relays exactly what the user is thinking."

"When I activated it the first time," Siller explained. "I was trying to remember what time I was supposed to be there for Major Carter's wedding."

"And so," Sam finished, "The machine sent out what appeared to be an wedding invite."

"I see," Hammond said.

"That's fascinating," Daniel exclaimed. "I mean, from what the reports said, that was the only item found on that planet. Just imagine what kind of culture would preserve a machine like that above all else, its fascin-"

"Daniel?" Jack interrupted.

"Oh... right, sorry."

"If I may ask," Martouf said politely. "What will you do with the device now? It seems too dangerous to keep around, if you do not know how to use it."

"Agreed," O'Neill said.

"But Jack-"

"Daniel," O'Neill glared.

"Don't worry about that Martouf," General Hammond assured him. "It won't be of any danger in Area 51." The General glanced around the table for any more comments before he said. "If that's all, then you're all dismissed. Narim, if you need to return to your people-"

"I have a few days," Narim smiled simply. "If that's alright."

"Of course," Hammond agreed before he left.

"You mean, you're people won't miss you?" Daniel wondered from beside Narim. "You aren't in charge?"

Narim almost laughed. "No, I have never really had an interest in a position of power. And, some of the Curia still survived."

"Well, I wouldn't trust _them_," Jack warned.

Sam winced at O'Neill's insensitivity, but Narim remained calm.

"Things have changed." Was all he said.

On the other side of him, Martouf nodded, as the others reluctantly got up.

"The Tok'ra too believed you and your people to be dead," Martouf stated quietly. "We are glad that that is not the case."

"Thank you," Narim smiled. "As am I." He did not know the young-looking Tok'ra personally, but of course, appearances of the Tok'ra on his homeworld had been rare at that. They had more of a recognition of one another than actual alliance, or friendship. Narim also had the sad feeling that now that his people were no longer advanced enough to openly oppose the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra would lose interest in them. He said nothing of this to Martouf.

"Do you know Samantha?" Narim suddenly wondered allowed. Had it been his imagination, or had quite a few of the other in the room, been looking at her rather oddly?

"Yes, we... she... She was once host to our mate, if briefly." Martouf admitted, not meaning to lay claim to such a beautiful women, though Lantash pointed out afterwards that was what it sounded like he was doing.

"Ah," Narim nodded as they joined the others heading down the stairs, and their conversation ended. "I believe she mentioned you, once."

*She... talked to this man... about us?* Martouf wondered.

*_What else did she tell him?_* Lantash questioned in their head.

*Does this mean...*

*_You're probably overthinking this. She probably hates us._*

*Lantash!*

Samantha herself had somehow managed to escape to her lab, dropping most of her pursuers. That is, except one.

"Rodney, I've told you, I'm busy. Do we really have to talk about this right now?"

"I think," Rodney said, doing his best to put his foot down, even though he could barely look her in the eye. "I think it has to be said."

Sam sighed. "Fine. Go ahead, say whatever you want to say."

Rodney paused, trying to figure out how exactly he should put this. "I...I'm sorry."

"Come again?"

"I'm sorry." Rodney repeated. "About the wedding... rehearsal. I'm sorry, I messed it up. Please don't make this harder than it has to be, I don't want to have to say it again."

"Oh, its not your fault," She snapped, sighing and rolling her eyes.

"Its not?" He queried. "Then whose was it? Because the way you were looking at me the other day, I kinda got the impression it was me."

Sam frowned. Whose fault was it, that the wedding rehearsal had gone so badly? Certainly, O'Neill was partially to blame. She'd seen him in the conference room, but hadn't spoken a word to him, or him to her. She hoped that wouldn't make work together awkward but... well, if the wedding worked out, and that was a big if, she was going to a grudge against him for a long, long time, she already knew it. But it wasn't completely the Colonel's fault- his heart had been in the right place. Pete was... Well, he earned no gold stars from her for his performance either.

Sam sighed, glancing at her watch. She shouldn't be having these kinds of thoughts mere hours before she walked down the aisle. Was it just normal wedding jitters? Was she overreacting? Was she really the one at fault here?

"Sam? Sam, are you okay?"

"What?" Sam said, jerked back to reality. "Oh, right, Rodney. Mckay, will you please get out of my lab,"

"What?" He started.

"I want some alone time." She said, leading the protesting scientist to the door.

"But wait- am I forgiven? Can I still come to your wedding?"

"Yes and fine, just go!"

Sam frowned as she heard herself snap. She wasn't normally this awful was she? There was too many thoughts going round in her head. She just needed some peace and quiet, and she'd work this all out.

A knock on her door. A silent plea it wasn't one of her suitors. She looked up.

"Narim!"

"May I come in?" He smiled.

So much for alone time, Sam thought as she welcomed him in.


	12. Chapter 12 - Some Advice

_Chapter 12- Some Advice, A Decision- wedding day? _

"If I am not much mistaken but last time we spoke, you were not engaged."

"Well, yeah," Samantha agreed as she found another chair for him to sit in.

"Then I believe congratulations are in order. You must forgive me, I have brought nothing to give you."

"Oh no, its not necessary, really." She said as they sat down. "Actually, I'm just happy you're alive. We really thought... Well, you know."

He nodded. "There were days I thought that myself. We were on a cargo ship- filled with food, enough that we could survive many days, but... sometimes you did have to wonder, with no destination in mind and a limited food and oxygen supply, would we really make it."

"I understand the feeling," Sam said, having been in similar situations a few times before.

Once again, Narim gave a slight smile, and Sam wondered at the fact that despite all he and his people were going through, he could still smile. It seemed to make her problems appear almost trivial by comparison. Some of her apprehension must have slipped through her expression for he said,

"Is there something troubling you, Samantha?"

He looks really concerned, Sam thought to herself. She could use a level headed person like Narim around about now- maybe he could help. Quickly, she informed him of the situation.

"So... you were to marry this Pete Shanahan, but are no longer sure because of your feelings for these other men," He summed it up.

"Well, when you put it that way," Sam said, trying to laugh away her problems.

"No, no," Narim said, laughing a little as well "It is completely understandable. Perhaps I could help,"

"I don't know..."

"Samantha, these issues will not resolve themselves on their own. You should not force yourself to marry a man you do not love, never knowing if you could have had something with... someone else," He said patiently. "Let me help you."

"Like, discuss pros and cons?" Sam tried to laugh. "Or, who would I want to be stuck with, if I were stuck with someone on a desert island in the middle of nowhere?"

"Let's try the first one." Narim smiled, not quite.

"Well..." It took a moment, but suddenly she was really into it, spilling all her secrets. "Rodney- no way. Never. Not even worth mentioning."

"And yet, you mentioned him."

She frowned. "Only because he was in my lab earlier. Now... Martouf and Lantash- the Tok'ra- are really strong and smart and caring. They're used to the kind of work I do, but not really with... well, a lot of traditional customs around here. They would never leave me though, even if it meant possibly dying." She stumbled. "Not that there would be any dying involved but just... you know... they care that much. They stayed with me when my dad was dying and Selmak had to blend with him, at the risk of their own lives, and we hardly even knew each other. But... well... I don't know if we know each other any better now... I mean, we've talked some, they've been to Earth a couple times, and we've gone a few missions together but... Mostly we've only ever talked about Jolinar, and how different the Tok'ra and Tau'ri are. Oh, and they spend a lot of time with my dad, I think. I don't know if that's a pro or a con," She laughed, glad to finally be able to get this all out, and think about it in a logical manner, before adding, "Hell, I don't even know if they have any feelings for me, for crying out loud."

"Samantha," Narim smiled patiently "I think it is safe to assume that all the... men... on your list have feelings for you, whether they have chosen to show them or not,"

"Right... Well, the other three I know for sure. The Colonel once... when Anise... well, it's a long story. We thought we were going to die. We've saved each other's lives so many times, I've practically lost count. We- well, the team has spent a lot of time together, over the years. Normally its just all fun and games but sometimes he still looks at me like... well... like if we weren't both military maybe... but we are both military. I don't want to give up the job."

"Would you give up the job if you were to marry any of the others?"

"Well..." She thought about it. Martouf/Lantash would probably want her to spend at least a little time at a Tok'ra base. In fact, they might even want her to become blended. She hadn't thought about that. Could she...? And Mckay would definitely want her by his side, _everywhere_ he went. Not that she would seriously consider him as... Well, Jack- she just thought of him as Jack. _The Colonel_ would want her to keep her job too but... the rules on that was pretty clear... And Pete, well, they'd had this conversation. Still, she just couldn't imagine leaving him and what if she was captured and... what if she had kids? And she was killed?

"I can't keep my job," Sam gasped. It was the best job she had _ever_ had. She didn't imagine anything could ever compare to it.

"If you get married," Narim slowly agreed.

"But..." _If _she got married? She thought about it. Had she always wanted to get married? She thought she could remember a happy time when she was little, playing with her dolls (it must have been really long ago, she gave that up easily), pretending to name them and call them her children... But she'd joined the military. That was to be the end of the whole marriage-idea. After what happened to her mom, and dad, and Mark abandoning them... Well. It kind of put a whole dampener on the idea. But she'd slowly started dating again and that first time when she saw how happy Daniel was with Shaari... well, she'd known. She wanted that too. She was going to get married. And it had to be one of these people.

"Thanks Narim, you've really helped," She said truthfully, standing up.

"You are welcome Samantha... when this has sorted itself out, if you would ever like to come visit my people... well, I think they would be open to sharing technology now, what survived anyways. You could learn a lot, and we could always use the help. I'd love to have you there."

Sam stared at him, eyes wide, and he wondered if he had said something wrong. "Narim... you... thanks! I'll think about it!" She turned, and hurried out of the room.

"Samantha?" He called after her.

"I have to go see someone!" She shouted back. "Actually, a few someones. There's something important I need to know!"

Well Sam finished speaking with Narim, a few floors above her, Pete was attempting to push his way through security. After watching her leave so late- he knew something had to be up. "I have clearance, I have clearance!" He tried to tell them.

"What seems to be the problem?" The General himself appeared, having just got it into his head to go home for the night.

"My name is Pete Shanahan," Pete explained "There's something wrong with my wife, I just know it." He pleaded, "I have to find her."

"Future wife," The old Texan reminded him, before turning to the guards restraining the man "Let him through. He _does _have clearance,"

Down below, Sam waved goodbye to Narim and rushed through the grey halls, turned a corner and froze.

"_Samantha_," He said, having spotted her. He moved forward, and her heart started to beat faster. Okay, not the first person she hadn't wanted to talk to, but she knew she had to talk to him eventually. Might as well be now.

"Lantash," She agreed, and he smiled. He had a nice smile.

"_I wish to speak with you... when you are not in such a hurry,_" He nodded, giving her a chance to escape. No, she forced herself to stay. Decisions had to be made.

"Oh, I'm not that busy." She glanced at her watch again. "Maybe a little tired, but not busy."

He smiled, and bowed his head to let Martouf come forward and speak.

"Samantha," Martouf smiled. They _always_ referred to her by her full name, Sam noted once again. "Please forgive us. We... We would like to ask you something."

"Oh," Sam said, a little surprised. Where was this leading? "Oh, okay. Is something wrong?"

"No, its... Garshaw left the base yesterday," Martouf explained, in a roundabout manner. "Only minutes ago, I received word from her that the... things that were discussed with your people, regarding a more... productive alliance," He said, trying to speak quickly now but almost stumbling over his words. "The council has just agreed. They are willing to start an exchange program- send a Tok'ra here, and allow a Tau'ri to join us in the tunnels."

Sam's eyes widened as she realized where he was going with this, but Martouf pushed forward. "They already have Tok'ra lined up to be sent here, but when I heard they were willing to allow one of your people on base... I could only think of you. You are by far the best candidate, I am sure you would enjoy the experience and learn much in your time there. And... I am sure both your father and... I... would... appreciate your company..." Martouf finished, his storm grey eyes silently telling her, there was so much more he would like to say.

"Martouf..." Sam started slowly, but before she could finish, she was interrupted.

"Leaving Carter?" O'Neill said, appearing from out of nowhere. Sam almost jumped. Lurking behind him was her old arch enemy, Mckay.

"Colonel!" She said, surprised. This was really not working out like she had imagined.

"Sam!" Pete appeared, shocking Carter even more. All of a sudden, the gang was all here. She took a deep breathe, and all hell broke loose.

"Are you bothering my wife?" Pete snapped at O'Neill.

"Hey, I'm not the one who asked her to run away with him,"

"_I did not-_" Lantash started, his eyes flashing.

"You did too, we heard you." Rodney blurted out.

"What is going on here?" Pete shouted. "I knew I should've come sooner,"

"Yeah, where _have _you been?" Mckay snapped. "The rest of us have been here for Sam."

"Hardly. You're one of the most annoying men I know!" Sam protested.

"This sucks... I wish you'd just marry me," Rodney hmphed.

"Rodney, will you get that idea out of your head- its _never_ going to happen!" Carter said sharply.

"I'm starting to think you don't want any of us!" Colonel O'Neill turned on Sam. Silence immediately followed, as they turned to look at her. "Them. I meant them." O'Neill back tracked.

Sam took another deep breath, then turned out her commanding officer.

"Colonel, tell me the truth, how do you feel about me marrying Pete?

He paused, a dark look coming into his eyes, before it vanished behind his normal false bravado. "I'm... Happy for you Carter,"

"Fine." She said, turning on the Tok'ra. "How about you two? Are you happy

"_If you are happy with this man, we are happy for you as well._" Lantash replied through clenched teeth.

"Pete?" Sam said, turning to her would-be-fiancee and asking him softly "Do you still want to marry me?"

"Sam," Pete said, getting down on his knees again and speaking as honestly as he could. "That would make the happiest man alive. I never want to lose you again, _never_. If I hadn't asked you to marry me before, I would do so right now, and I'd never let you go."

And with that response, Sam smiled and informed the others "I think I'm going through with it." Barring any unforeseen surprises, in a few more hours, she was going to be a married women.


	13. Chapter 13 - The Wedding

_Chapter 13- The Wedding_

General George Hammond sat in the second row, right behind Pete's parents, a sulking Colonel O'neill and happy looking Daniel Jackson beside him. As far as the general could tell, everything was going perfectly. Everyone seemed to be getting along. The three bridesmaids, even the Tok'ra, looked lovely, he had to admit. The three groomsmen, Mark, Malek, and Siller (all that was left of the original company- Pete's brother having been invited, but called away on police duty five minutes before the wedding started), despite looking a bit out of place, were not at each other's throats. The flower girls had looked absolutely beautiful, and the ring bearer, Sam's nephew, had only rolled his eyes five or six times, so he looked adorable as well. Pete had entered right on time with a big grin on his face, and now Sam was walking down the aisle into her future.

They could all see her smile under her veil. Even Jacob, holding her arm in a near death grip, managed a small smile as well. He looked about ready to be sick, or fall over. Hammond felt for his long-time friend, but was just as thrilled for the Major. It was about time she wore a ring on her finger.

The wedding was so perfect, some of the more sentimental among the crowd of mostly hardened SG1 personnel and police officers, as well as a few family members and a few more aliens, shed a few tears.

And all of a sudden, the moment had come.

"Do you, Samantha Carter, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?" The priest asked.

Sam took a deep breathe, smiling under her veil, "I-"

But she didn't get to say anymore as with a sudden beam of light, she and Pete were gone.

Hammond was the first out of his chair, followed by O'neill, Jackson, a blonde haired Tok'ra, two Jaffa, and a Canadian scientist who'd already been kicked out twice.

"What in the-" O'neill started, before he too was beamed away.

"Jackson?" Hammond turned to the startled looking archaeologist "Is this some kind of prank?"

"I have no ide-" Daniel explained, and then he too was gone.

*_Think quick!*_ Selmak ordered, panicking her host even further *_We're under attack!*_

*We have to stop the guests first!* Jacob shouted back at her coming out of his daze. *They can't know the truth! Whatever that is!*

Indeed, more guests were rising now, looking confused. It was easy to tell the civilian from the military as many people went for their holsters (though no guns were allowed in the church), looking around for their attackers. Unfortunately, none were to be found.

"If I could have everyone's attention!" Jacob shouted, stepping past the stunned priest and into the center of the stage. Malek, Teal'c, Janet and Anise quickly followed his lead.

"Calm down! Please listen!"

Hammond and Bra'tac hurried forward, joining them on the stage. It was about to break out into a mob down below.

"Hey!" Rodney shouted in the mass of moving or stunned people "What is- oh my god, is that a lemon? Get that away from me! Hey ! You guys! Do something!"

"Silence!" Bra'tac commended loudly, and silence suddenly descended. "Hammond of Texas, you may now explain the situation."

"Please do," Janet muttered.

Hammond glanced around. How had he managed to become center of attention?

"Jacob," He nodded to his friend, "Go ahead,"

"Don't look at me George," Jacob shot back in a whisper "Sam didn't tell me about any of this either,"

"Well," Janet told the older men "Someone has to-"

And with that ,the entire contingent was beamed away, leaving only Mark and his wife to explain the situation.

"Mom?" Cassie cried.

"Uh..." Mark started "I am sure there is a funny explanation for this." His mind went completely blank, and all he could think of was that his sister had just been abducted swamp gas and hot air balloons. "I just... wish I knew what it was..."

Far above, the rest of the wedding party looked down on Earth. O'Neill was the first to turn around.

"Thor! Old buddy, have I told what awful timing you have?"

The emotionless Asgard just cocked his head as the others looked around at each other, shocked, and then back to the asgard.

"I was requested O'Neill."

"Oh, _now _you have a ship available," O'Neill said, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Colonel," General Hammond reprimanded him before he could continue, then turned to their little grey ally. "We apologize for this Thor, but there seems to have been some kind of mistake. We've been trying to contact our allies and advise them not to come, but someone must have forgotten to get the message to you,"

"Of course they did," The Colonel said, mostly to himself. "The asgards, who could forget the asgards?"

Sam stood in silent shock and horror. Pete had taken her in his arms, but she didn't respond. How could this possibly be happening? She could just imagine all those horrified faces down below- how was she going to explain to say, her Great Aunt Thessaly that she was abducted by friendly aliens? She just couldn't even think about it all. They probably all thought she had run out on her wedding. Or that she'd eloped- though on the altar was a stupid time to elope. She closed her eyes. This was worse than her worst nightmare.

"Sam," Pete was whispering, rather loudly, in her ear. "What _is _he? Where are we?"

"An asgard. We're on his ship, orbiting Earth." Sam replied slowly, her thoughts just shattering along with her heart.

The others were suddenly engrossed in how they were going to resolve this situation. They could already imagine folks calling up their friends, telling them what they'd seen.

"Perhaps the SG personnel will-"

"We can't count on it ," General Hammond interrupted. "Thor, are you able to cut off signals leaving the church area?"

"Indeed," The commander of the asgard fleet said, and it was done.

They returned to their discussions, ignoring Thor, and ignoring Sam.

"Perhaps this is the time to come forward and tell your people the truth?" Bra'tac suggested.

"Few among the Tau'ri know of the existence of the Stargate. I believe it was being kept hidden from them for good reasons," Martouf explained.

"Definitely." Jacob agreed. "And believe me, I know these people, the civilians. There's no way they could keep their mouths shut."

"Whoa," Pete interrupted, breaking away from Sam for a moment. "Some of them are my family. Some of them are cops! I think they could handle it."

"Perhaps there is some way to make them forget what they have seen here today." Teal'c suggested.

"Yeah Teal'c, good idea, let's just call up ol' Area 51 and see if they have any forget-o-ray lying around," O'Neill hmphed.

"Colonel, I think you need to start taking these ideas seriously. We could have a serious problem on our hands!" General Hammond ordered.

"Sam?" Janet wondered quietly as she wandered over to her friend. "How are you holding up?"

She was the first to ask. Sam didn't even bother to smile. There was no point lying to Janet. She took a deep breathe as her friend eyed her closely.

"I think I want to leave. I just want to run, and never look back. I'm serious- I want to get off this whole planet! This was a total disaster." Sam confided in her quietly. "I want to take one heck of a vacation, and forget."

Janet smiled. "Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt. Might even be just what the doctor orders. What about...?" She nodded in Pete's generally direction.

"No more Pete." Sam agreed. Where was Pete now that their wedding had gone up in flames? Or rather, asgard beaming technology?

"Well, you better get going," Janet advised. "See you around Sam,"

Sam smiled. At least she still had one true friend! And thinking about it, Sam suddenly realized, she had another friend waiting for her as well.

"Thor," She said quickly. "Thanks for coming to the wedding. You've really helped put things into perspective."

Thor nodded his head, his face completely blank, but inside he was still perplexed at the odd little Tau'ri.

"Now if you don't mind, can you transfer me to the SGC, and everyone else back to the wedding?"

"Hey wait- Sam!" O'Neill shouted, as Thor beamed them away. Sam let out a breathe. There went most of her problems.

Once she arrived at the SGC (to the surprise of a few marines), Sam hurried off to change and quickly packed a bag- it was mostly done for her. She never knew when she might be called to go on a long mission, so she always had a bag ready and waiting. Did she want anything at home? She paused a moment to think about it. No, there was nothing she couldn't live without. Mostly, she just wanted to get out of here. Would she return? Probably. But not until she could completely forget this whole fiasco.

She hurried through the halls, hoping she wasn't too late. First, she checked his quarters. Then, after asking a passing security guard, she bolted for the gate room.

"Narim!" She called as she entered the door. The Stargate was active, he was just walking up the ramp with Schrödinger in his arms. He paused, clearly surprised to see her there, then calmed himself down enough to say:

"I apologize for not attending your wedding Samantha, I did not think you would want-" Narim paused. "You... are also not attending your wedding."

"Narim, were you serious when you invited me to come to your new homeworld?" She asked breathlessly.

"I... did not expect it to be so soon..." He started, then suddenly a broad grin lit up his face, the first truly happy smile she'd seen from him. "It would be an honor if you would accompany me, Samantha."

They walked through the event horizon, heading for the stars above, each suddenly excited for the unknown future.


	14. Chapter 14 - Finale

**Ah, its done its done its done! My first fanfic finally finish. Hopefully this ends it off on a good note... so what do you think, should I write more? **

_Chapter 14- The Finale & Happily Ever After_

The team, Daniel wearing a mix of lotar outfit and SGC uniform, and an unhappy looking Tok'ra in full red Goa'uld-impersonating gear, scooted across the road, ducking in and around trees, trying to avoid staff blasts as they ran, the sound of angry Jaffa echoing throughout the thin forest.

Suddenly out through the trees they saw the grassy clearing, and the light shining off of the gate- and dialing device.

"Go, go, go!" O'neill shouted. "Teal'c!"

The Jaffa stopped, he and the Colonel taking aim and firing at the approaching Jaffa. The Tok'ra stopped as well, pulling out his zat as they took up their positions. Daniel ran for the dialing device.

"Hey! Get over here!" He shouted at the fourth member of Sg-1, "The Jaffa are going to _kill you_,"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry it's just..." Pete Shanahan said as he ran behind friendly lines, looking back at his pursuers, "They are _angry_," He sounded shock.

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed "I believe they have noticed our deception O'neill."

"_This would not have happened had you simply followed the plan!" _Lantash snapped angrily at O'neill.

"Oh shut it... There was no way I was wearing that... outfit." Jack growled over the sound of the gate activating. "Nothing goes by the plan anyways!"

"I got it!" Daniel called, then ran into the portal.

They turned and ran for the gate, Teal'c and O'neill occasionally shooting Jaffa behind them.

"Ladies first," O'neill said, nodding to the Tok'ra as they reached the gate.

In the distance, a pyramid exploded.

"They've definitely noticed us now Teal'c- let's go!"

In a moment, the team was on the other side. General Hammond awaited them.

"Welcome home campers," O'neill grinned, trotting down the ramp, "Another Goa'uld destroyed, another Tok'ra saved," He chortled, tapping Marty on the back.

"_I believe _I _saved _you _this time_," Lantash shot back, and the Colonel just shook his head.

"Actually he did kind of save me," Pete said, happy to be back home with his favorite team of buddies.

"And me," Daniel agreed quickly. "And you. If we're counting."

"Well, good work Sg-1," General Hammond "There's something I'd like you all to see. Follow me."

O'neill glanced at Teal'c as the others followed the General. "He didn't save you, did he?"

"I was in no need saving O'neill," Teal'c assured him.

"Exactly," O'neill said, as if that proved a point.

Jack was the last one into the briefing room (after stopping to harass a donut) "What is it kiddos?"

"Well, we did have a little excitement of own well you were away," General Hammond nodded to the man sitting next to him. " assures me he saved the world, again."

"Disaster averted," The scientist gave O'Neill a thumbs up.

"We also received this," General Hammond delivered the big news. "It appears to be a message from the Tollan. An invite. A wedding invite actually."


End file.
